White House Orders Hicks Not To Comply With House Subpoena

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Hope Hicks has been instructed by the White House not to comply with a House Judiciary Committee subpoena, but the former aide to President Trump has begun turning over some of the requested documents, according to Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY). The documents she is producing are related to the Trump campaign, according to Nadler, and therefore not necessarily in defiance … Read More

Breaking: House Judiciary Committee To Hold Hearings On Mueller Report

Ken AshfordCongress, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

WaPo: The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing next week on the Mueller report — but the report’s author will not attend. The panel announced Monday that it will convene on June 10 for a hearing titled “Lessons from the Mueller Report: Presidential Obstruction and Other Crimes.” Former U.S. attorneys and legal experts are expected to attend, as is John W. … Read More

Public Slowly Warms To Impeachment… But Is There A Tipping Point?

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, PollsLeave a Comment

CNN poll Democrats are increasingly in support of impeaching President Donald Trumpand removing him from office but the majority of Americans remain opposed to the prospect, a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS shows. Trump’s approval rating, meanwhile, holds exactly even with where it was in late April — 43% approve and 52% disapprove of the President, according to the poll. That’s the case even … Read More

Mueller Talks

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Congress, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Surprise press conference from Robert Mueller in which he took no questions: Trying not to break DOJ protocol, Mueller did his best to explain but not veer from the words of his report, and was successful. But in being faithful to his report, Mueller tacitly highlighted just how disingenuous AG Barr was when he first summarized the report. Mueller opened … Read More

One Day In Trumpworld

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & Administration, White House SecrecyLeave a Comment

These things happened yesterday: (1) Trump gave William Barr total authority to declassify and release anything he wants regarding the Russia investigation, particularly anything from the intelligence community (who was told by executive order to cooperate). I don’t think there is a smoking gun showing that the “Deep State” was out to get Trump by starting what eventually became the Mueller investigation. … Read More

Call Me Crazy, But It Doesn’t Look Like Justin Amash, The First Congressional Republican To Call For Impeachment, Is Showing Signs Of Backing Down

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

As New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait points out, Amash has “an 88 percent score from the American Conservative Union, [and] a 100 percent score from FreedomWorks.” He’s anti-abortion, more anti-interventionist than the average Democrat, and when bills add to the federal government’s vast ocean of red ink, he votes no.

Happening Now: Pelosi And Schumer At White House To Talk Infrastructure; Trump Cannot Focus

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Congress, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Trump is on the White House lawn complaining about the Mueller investigation, while Pelosi and Schumer are trying to do the work of the people: "I walked into the room and I told Sen Schumer and Speaker Pelosi that I want to do infrastructure…but I can't do it under these circumstances." Pres Trump of his meeting moments before with Democratic … Read More

McGahn Is A No-Show. Now What?

Ken AshfordCongress, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Rep. Jerry Nadler: “We will not allow the President to prevent the American people from hearing from this witness. We will not allow the President to block congressional subpoenas, putting himself and his allies above the law.” https://t.co/iwEhpwoUah pic.twitter.com/Aw7imGg0GX — The Hill (@thehill) May 21, 2019 Nadler in the clip above (from The Post): “We will not allow the president to … Read More

Trump Expected To Order McGahn To Ignore Subpoena

Ken AshfordCongress, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

NEWS: The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has drafted an opinion centering on McGahn’s planned testimony to House Judiciary tomorrow, per DOJ official. A Hill aide tells me they expect it to provide a legal basis for McGahn refusing to comply with the subpoena. — Andrew Desiderio (@desiderioDC) May 20, 2019 NY Times: President Trump is preparing to instruct … Read More

Trump’s Lawyers Adopt Untenable Position

Ken AshfordCongress, Courts/Law, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

On all fronts, Trump, through his lawyers, is fighting congressional subpoenas issued to him, his businesses, his sons, etc. in the courts. Trump and his allies are working to block more than 20 separate investigations into his actions as president, his personal finances and his administration’s policies, according to a Washington Post analysis. The most important case of all is, ironically, one … Read More

Trump Abuse Everywhere

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

First, an insight into the guy we’re dealing with: Ok. So he’s an asshole. But he’s dangerous too. Trump, through his surrogates, is openly involving a foreign power in domestic politics: If you’re still worried about the collusion described in the Mueller Report forgot about that because it probably means you’re not focused enough on how President Trump’s top advisors … Read More